Defying his age, swashbuckling Chris Gayle stunned everyone on Friday by slamming a 63-ball 99 against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at Abu Dhabi. After being put to bat first on a tricky surface, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) suffered an early setback in the form of Mandeep Singh. However, Gayle, unaffected by the pressure, slammed 6 fours and 8 sixes to wreak havoc on RR's bowling unit.
The 41-year-old also became the first player to hit 1000 sixes in T20 cricket. Despite his enthralling batting show, Gayle wasn't awarded Player of the Match as RR's Ben Stokes slammed a quick-fire half-century to play a crucial role in Royals' seven-wicket triumph.
In the ultimate over of KXIP's innings, all eyes were on Gayle to amass his first century of the on-going IPL edition. However, the Universe Boss was cleaned up by Jofra Archer on the fourth delivery when he was just 1 run short of reaching his ton.
Archer, who took two while conceding just 24 runs from his four overs, was the pick of the RR bowling lot. Following his bowling exploits, Gayle's dismissal to be specific, Archer's seven-year-old tweet started doing rounds on the internet.
In the tweet shared in 2013, the speedster had written about getting someone out before he could reach his century. “I know if I was bowling I know he wasn’t getting da 100," Archer had written.
The Barbadian-born England pacer has hogged headlines on multiple occasions for his old tweets. He is known for his ability to ‘predict’ the future as his old tweets have often surfaced following a particular incident. Fans were left stunned after seeing Archer's other old tweet linking to a recent happening. Royals also shared Archer's tweet, calling it '100 per cent true'.
Gayle's enthralling batting show might've gone down the drain but the KL Rahul-led side still has a chance to qualify for playoffs. With a better Net Run Rate, KXIP are currently sitting fourth in the points table at 12 points. Winning their next encounter against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Sunday will bolster KXIP's chances of finishing in the top-four list.
